During the 1970s the barefoot doctor, cooperative medical care, and three-level health system innovations that had brought medical care to the 80 percent of China's population living in rural areas were praised by WHO, UNICEF and others. These services were embedded in China's Maoist economic system and included redistribution of health care resources; self-reliance and mutual help; training of full-time and part-time health workers; emphasis on preventive medicine; integration of traditional Chinese medicine; and motivation through "Serve the People." Maosim created serious problems, including severe political repression, but also led to extraordinary health service development. The extent to which the dramatic improvements in the health status of the rural population were due to improved health services or to improvements in sanitation, nutrition, housing, education, and other social conditions is unclear, but China's rural health care was advocated as a model for the developing world.
After the death of Mao Zedong and Chou Enlai in 1976, the economic system on which equitable human services were based eroded dramatically. "Serve the People" was replaced by "To Get Rich is Glorious" and trickle-down economics. Extensive evidence suggests a decline in health status and in medical care services in China's poorest rural areas. China's recent history indicates the ways in which a nation's social, political, and economic policies, true in all societies but made more obvious by the dramatic policy swings in China.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Health Care,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.